The art of taxidermy involves the preparation of lifelike representations of animals by preserving the skins or hides thereof, and fashioning a wooden or plastic model on which the skin of the specimen is mounted. It is a common practice to process the hide or skin by conventional techniques to preserve the natural appearance of the fur, ears, tail, nose, etc. In many instances, even the teeth of the animal carcass are extracted and reset into a plastic jaw mountable within the skull of the taxidermic model. Success in the art of taxidermy is judged by considerations of authenticity and cost.
A popular technique for mounting game animals and fish is to show the specimen bearing its teeth. The viciousness of the animal is thus apparent. However, many parts of the animal mouth desirable for viewing cannot be easily preserved. These include, for example, the tissue forming the gum, palate and tongue. While the remounting of the original teeth constitutes the utmost in retaining the authenticity of the taxidermic specimen, such measure is time consuming and expensive. As a result, mass production techniques have been employed to provide reasonably lifelike plastic models of taxidermic animal parts. For instance, one may obtain in quantities artificial eyes, tongues, and upper and lower jaws of many game animals and birds. Such parts are then mounted within a styrofoam or plastic model of the taxidermic specimen over which the original preserved skin or hide is mounted. By having available the various parts of the popular game animals, the taxidermist is able to "construct" a specimen which appears lifelike.
The present known techniques employed in mass producing taxidermic specimen parts are not without their attendant disadvantages. For example, the upper and lower jaw parts of many taxidermic specimens are formed by vacuum mold techniques, wherein a piece of flat pliable plastic is formed over a mold having the characteristics of the desired specimen. The taxidermist must then separately paint the teeth, palate and gum areas to achieve the lifelike characteristics of the animal. It is apparent that each taxidermist must have a high degree of skill to create these lifelike characteristics. Moreover, this artistry must be repeated for each specimen the taxidermist produces. According to conventional techniques, a paint shield is supplied with the plastic jaw parts to cover the teeth so that the gum and palate areas can be painted without disturbing the painted areas of the teeth.
From the foregoing, it may be seen that a need exists for a technique to reproduce in quantities prefabricated taxidermic specimen parts which require little skill on the part of the taxidermist, and which are more lifelike than existing specimen parts.